Twitter Reactions: KL Rahul key for India after a middle-order collapse on a rain-dominated day

India ended the day at 125/4 with Rahul looking solid.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

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KL Rahul
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KL Rahul. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

After skittling England for just 183, India just needed to bat sensibly on the second day and take a decent lead in the first innings. The hosts, on the other hand, needed to pick quick wickets in order to make a comeback in the Test match. But rain had the final say on the day as only 33.4 overs of play as possible and even in that period, Test cricket was at its best.

First it was the duo of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma blunting the England attack in the morning session. Both the batsmen played very much cautiously and were in strong defense while taking toll of a rare poor delivery. England were so desperate to break the opening stand, they literally burnt two of their reviews.

After surviving the first hour, the Indian openers started playing their shots and at the same time, were disciplined too. There were a few unplayable balls which they played and missed but none of England four pacers could breakthrough. Runs came fast in the second hour of the opening session on Day 2 and at 97/0, Joe Root wore a helpless look at the stroke of lunch.

But not while walking off for lunch. Yes, Ollie Robinson had struck with the only bouncer he bowled all morning. Rohit Sharma couldn’t resist going for his favourite pull shot and ended up holing out to Sam Curran in the deep. Once again, he did all the hard work scoring 36 runs off more than 100 deliveries and threw it away like he did in Australia.

A Star-Studded middle-order collapse for India

India were still ahead at 97/1 but not after 30 minutes in the post-lunch session. In a matter of deliveries in the 41st over of the innings, James Anderson turned things around. He induced an edge off Cheteshwar Pujara with a perfect outswinger and then brought back the haunting memories of 2014 tour for Virat Kohli dismissing him for a golden duck.

The Trent Bridge erupted in unison as England were back in the game and there was more to come. India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane looked iffy and in some urgency from the start of the innings. And it resulted in him getting run-out while going for an non-existent single. From 97/0, India were reduced to 112/4 and during all this action, KL Rahul got to his half-century on his Test comeback.

It is evident that he has changed his technique and is looking extremely good at the moment. No wonder he remains key for India on Day 3 as not much play was possible with rain not subsiding and playing hide and seek with everyone. The visitors ended the day on 125/4, still 58 runs behind in the first innings and they will need Rahul and Pant to bat with discipline again on the third morning.

England, on the other hand, have a brilliant chance to wrap things up and who better than James Anderson to step up for the task. If rain allows, it will be another fascinating day of Test cricket on third day.

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